Willow leaf ‘89 thoughts

[SC1989]

I got this guy a couple months ago. 3 weeks ago I did heavy root work (still needs more). I brought it inside afterwards-getting chilly up north. Letting the tree recover before more work. In the meantime, I’m planning a cut. Previous owner chopped and it looked like only hedge pruned after. The inverse taper needs to go. I am thinking about cutting it diagonal. Apologies for bad pictures.

 

[SC1989]

 

[Carol 83]

I'm not sure about doing anything drastic while inside for the winter. Mine tends to drop it's leaves and play dead around November and doesn't show any sign of life until back outside for awhile.

 

[SC1989]

Where I am, it’s not going outside for another 8 months. Unfortunately.. but it’s been really happy under these lights . Lots of growth

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

That’s a lot of work for this time of year, where you live...even inside ficus nerifolia doesn’t grow much in the winter. I agree that the chop scar needs to be cleaned up, but be careful disturbing the newly-transplanted roots as you go. There is a correct time for all work in bonsai, and not much should be going on with tropical bonsai in your area.

 

[Forsoothe!]

No hablo cutting diagonal. At least one picture should show an eye-level shot of the front. The knot of branches at the top of the trunk is causing the trunk to fatten at the place where all the branches originate. You need to remove enough of them to allow two or three major branches to form beginning about ten years ago. Having failed that, the remedial work necessary is substantial and will take a lot of time. If any buds break below that knot, like on the skinnier portion of the trunk, let it all grow as a sacrifice branch to fatten that portion. Many would be better, so trimming the existing knot is needed, if for no other reason that to spark some strong growth elsewhere, like on the lower trunk. Choose a new front; trim the knot down to two or three branches well-placed to become major branches; vigilantly patrol for removing poorly-placed buds and remove them with an Xacto Knife; keep the top of the canopy you imagine in mind as you see growth spurts and do not allow anything to cross that imaginary line. Most people have bonsai to work on them. That should mean touching the plant every day and snipping out growth that is mis-placed favoring growth that is well-placed. Enjoy!

 

[SC1989]

No hablo cutting diagonal. At least one picture should show an eye-level shot of the front. The knot of branches at the top of the trunk is causing the trunk to fatten at the place where all the branches originate. You need to remove enough of them to allow two or three major branches to form beginning about ten years ago. Having failed that, the remedial work necessary is substantial and will take a lot of time. If any buds break below that knot, like on the skinnier portion of the trunk, let it all grow as a sacrifice branch to fatten that portion. Many would be better, so trimming the existing knot is needed, if for no other reason that to spark some strong growth elsewhere, like on the lower trunk. Choose a new front; trim the knot down to two or three branches well-placed to become major branches; vigilantly patrol for removing poorly-placed buds and remove them with an Xacto Knife; keep the top of the canopy you imagine in mind as you see growth spurts and do not allow anything to cross that imaginary line. Most people have bonsai to work on them. That should mean touching the plant every day and snipping out growth that is mis-placed favoring growth that is well-placed. Enjoy!

I cut less than ten small branches after repot. Just letting it get healthy, but probably going to clip as I go. Not a huge fan of big cuts. It’s a very vigorous grower so I’m looking at doing some work before the swelling gets worse. Love the tree so far though. It’s lovin’ the T5 lights and growing like a weed

 

[sorce]

That cut is going to end up looking uglier than what it is now!

Go all the way to the first branch!

Sorce

 

[SC1989]

I’m not worried about doing work on any of my ficus. They’re honestly growing just as well inside as they were outside. I repotted my green island ficus 6 days ago and didn’t skip a beat. Vigorous growth continues. Plenty of light and steady temp. It’s the how and where I was looking for prospective on, but I appreciate all feedback the same.

 

[LittleDingus]

I got this guy a couple months ago. 3 weeks ago I did heavy root work (still needs more). I brought it inside afterwards-getting chilly up north. Letting the tree recover before more work. In the meantime, I’m planning a cut. Previous owner chopped and it looked like only hedge pruned after. The inverse taper needs to go. I am thinking about cutting it diagonal. Apologies for bad pictures.

Not that it matters, but are sure that it's nerifolia/salicifolia? That's the species generally considered "willow leaf". I ask because the foliage on mine is significantly narrower and less oval shaped. Again, ficus, shouldn't matter much...

On the cut, how big do you want the tree to get? Unless you're going to grow it out to like double or triple current size, there likely won't be enough top growth to heal a scar that big any time soon. Foliage can hide it if you want to keep the tree the same size.

Personally, if I wanted to end up with a tree the same size, I'd look to cut off the larger trunk way down low. That might strike as a cutting. An air layer might be less risky. That wound could be close to closed by the time that left branch gets you back to this size tree...probably in about 2 years. Maybe less if you get the kind of continuous growth you claim all winter. The trunk would have a more pleasing curve to it if you like that sort of thing. You'd likely need to adjust the planting angle to look more natural then.

I will add I'm in a much warmer climate than you. My nerifolia gets 6 months of warm humid days in the summer.

 

[luvinthemountains]

I am also now learning on a 1989 myself. It is just now recovering from a near death experience from heavy root pruning. You are right about the vigorous growth - once it decided to live it went gangbusters.

There is a strong tendency in this cultivar to multiple shoots from one spot. The inverse taper is unfortunate, but fortunately you've got fantastic taper drown low. The problem up high will never resolve in zone 5 (?). So if this were mine, I would cut back by at least a third, to a new leader, and wire that up to grow a new top.

These seem to die back badly from chops, so I suggest a flat cut at first, waiting to cut diagonally until that dries up. As for the chopped-off piece, I would cut it again, higher, to eliminate the reverse taper then plant that. It could turn out as a really nice shohin.

It will root for sure, but it will need warmth and VERY high humidity. Trim branches back to a few leaves each, but don't leave it leafless. Wait a few weeks and look for buds opening.

Oh, and yeah, all of this will go a lot better if you do it in the summer. It's great you are seeing all that growth under lights. You will need that to grow a healthy root mass. By the time it goes outside next summer, you should be well set up for the next steps above.

Good luck!

 

[DonovanC]

I definitely wouldn’t bother with the top of the tree. In the summer, I’d gather as many cuttings from the top as I could then chop it down to the lowest branch/second trunk - however you’d like to define it.

 

[LittleDingus]

Not that it matters, but are sure that it's nerifolia/salicifolia? That's the species generally considered "willow leaf". I ask because the foliage on mine is significantly narrower and less oval shaped. Again, ficus, shouldn't matter much...

Ah! Did some research and the '89 cultivar does, indeed tend to have larger and wider leaves than the species. Here's one of my salicifolia for comparison



That doesn't change my suggestions. If you want to preserve the double trunk, I'd cut back to here and use cut paste to help prevent die back.



If you don't have cut paste, cut to where you suggest, but then plan on shaving back to here once the stub has dried some. If you leave the cut out where your black line is, you'll likely regrow the inverse taper from all the branches. Instead, shave back to one or two live branches. You'll then have to hope that something buds just below the cut to help fill in that side of the canopy if that's what you want. Those little branches to the left of the cut will need to get almost the size of the existing trunk before they'll heal over the chop though. If you plan on keeping the tree this size, that cut won't heal for a long while.

Where DonavanC marks a cut is where I would go if it were mine. Layer the second trunk for future material. Fix the inverse taper once that layer roots out in a year or two. The cut on the main tree is then lower down just off a trunk that will support most of the growth of the remaining tree. That should heal over much faster since there's significantly more growth above it. It also helps increase the overall taper and adds some movement to the trunk. The tree may look unbalanced for a bit but a new planting angle and a summer's growth should fix that.

In either place, make an initial cut far enough up from the final location to allow some die back. Or use cut paste. Once the stub has dried up, shave it back to the final cut location and make the final cut slightly concave for best healing.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Any idiot can chop a tree, but it takes some vision and skill and patience to then make it into a bonsai. There is a big flat chop in there from years ago and evidently, zero effort applied thereafter. Somebody thought that something good would emerge by itself. It didn't. I urge the OP to stare at that old chop and keep telling himself the aftercare he is looking at is going to be better thought out.

 

[SC1989]

Think I’m going to thin out the top and stare at it more...lots of cuttings . make a big move next spring. At least re direct growth lower in the mean time. I am leaning towards layering most of that inverse. The bad taper starts about halfway up.

 

[SC1989]

This is what I reduced it to two weeks ago

 

[penumbra]

I'm not sure about doing anything drastic while inside for the winter. Mine tends to drop it's leaves and play dead around November and doesn't show any sign of life until back outside for awhile.

Heed this bit of advice. This is also the norm I expect from these.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

When I first started with ficus I did always cut too much. Always trimming, snipping, here and there.
Never really gave my plants a chance to grow. Indoor growing is slow and steady.
Outdoors I accomplish two years of growth in one season comparatively.
I too have an 89’. I will hold on to it but I do prefer the regular version best.
I did try to repot indoors- in winter. Sometimes I got lucky. I think if I don’t work the roots and just slip pot it is doable.

 

[SC1989]

reported several times since last post. Finally decided to chop the top(which is rooting as a cutting), defoiliate, and this is the tree 8 weeks after. Lights help indoor growth!

 

[SC1989]

Any idiot can chop a tree, but it takes some vision and skill and patience to then make it into a bonsai. There is a big flat chop in there from years ago and evidently, zero effort applied thereafter. Somebody thought that something good would emerge by itself. It didn't. I urge the OP to stare at that old chop and keep telling himself the aftercare he is looking at is going to be better thought out.

Lol well I stared at it for almost 2 years while working the root system mainly